Egypt, located on the isthmus of Africa, is an ideal region to study historical population dynamics due to its geographic location and documented interactions with ancient civilizations in Africa, Asia and Europe. Particularly, in the first millennium BCE Egypt endured foreign domination leading to growing numbers of foreigners living within its borders possibly contributing genetically to the local population. Here we present 90 mitochondrial genomes as well as genome-wide data sets from three individuals obtained from Egyptian mummies. The samples recovered from Middle Egypt span around 1,300 years of ancient Egyptian history from the New Kingdom to the Roman Period. Our analyses reveal that ancient Egyptians shared more ancestry with Near Easterners than present-day Egyptians, who received additional sub-Saharan admixture in more recent times. This analysis establishes ancient Egyptian mummies as a genetic source to study ancient human history and offers the perspective of deciphering Egypt’s past at a genome-wide level.

Egypt's location; its close links with Africa, Asia and Europe, its rich, documented history, and the preserved remains of its mummies make it the ideal testbed for the study of ancient populations. However, the accuracy of the DNA extracted from these mummies has been the subject of much scepticism. ...

... Now, an international team led by researchers at the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, has recovered and analysed ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies dating from approximately 1400 BCE to 400 CE, including the first genome-wide nuclear data from three individuals. Nuclear data is significant because, at its most simple, it is inherited from all ancestors, while mitochondrial DNA stems from the maternal line only. ...

... "Especially for admixture and ancestry analysis, it is important to look at as many informative/variable positions in the genome as possible to obtain a complete picture." ...

... When compared with more recent DNA, the study also revealed modern Egyptians share approximately eight per cent more ancestry on the nuclear level with Sub-Saharan African populations than with Ancient Egyptians. ...

... "This study counters prior scepticism about the possibility of recovering reliable ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies," said the international team in a statement. "Despite the potential issues of degradation and contamination caused by climate and mummification methods, the authors were able to use high-throughput DNA sequencing and robust authentication methods to ensure the ancient origin and reliability of the data. The study thus shows that Egyptian mummies can be a reliable source of ancient DNA, and can greatly contribute to a more accurate and refined understanding of Egypt's population history." ...

Even if it is not (yet) necessary. The samples all come from a single cemetery, and it is not a cemetery in Upper Egypt. In order to make general statements for the whole country, other similar investigations are certainly necessary, I think?